Turquerie

French Delight in Turkey: The Impact of Turkey on the Construction of French Identity, 1660-1789

by Julia Landweber

“Celebrating Identity: Charting the History of Turkish Masquerade in Early Modern France”

by Julia Landweber

Published in the British journal _Romance Studies Quarterly_, 23 (3) 2005: 175-189.

“Turkish Delight: The Eighteenth-Century Market in Turqueries and the Commercialization of Identity in France,”

by Julia Landweber

Published in The Proceedings of the Western Society for French History, vol. 30, 2004: 202-211.

      In the eighteenth century French images of the Turk, consumed as material turqueries, became... more       In the eighteenth century French images of the Turk, consumed as material turqueries, became important tools in shaping individual identities in France and, more broadly, in crafting a general vision of the French national character. Though often based on stereotype, turqueries allowed the consumer classes to reflect on who they were, by reference to who they were not. Beginning in the 1720s, and continuing well into the 1780s, turquerie invaded the French home and daily life. Designers and taste-makers incorporated Turkish elements into household objects, comestibles, interior and exterior décor, gardens, and fashionable clothing. Although much of this invasion occurred within the exclusive province of the wealthy, turquerie also reached beyond the rich to touch lower social strata, especially via the growing accessibility of coffee and through the adaptation of Turkish masquerade fashions into regular clothing. Turkish motifs became a defining element of mid-century French rococo, whether in architecture, art, literature, or dress. And coffee became a national drink in France in the same period, without losing any of its exotic flavor.
      By broadly interpreting the concept of mascarade à la turque to include not just literal masquerade balls, but also portrait paintings déguisé en turc and the proliferation of Turkish elements in dress, literature, decorative arts, and garden design, I argue that a willingness to play around with the outrageous idea of possessing a Turkish identity was intrinsic to the French becoming educated about their own nationality. Temporary assumption of a Turkish costume heightened individuals’ awareness that they could also craft their real personal identities through reference to this alien culture, which from the French perspective mixed attractive and awful qualities in nearly equal measure. By allowing the French to play seriously with seemingly frivolous rococo visions of Turkish identity, the cosmopolitan openness of the Enlightenment brought both the appealing and unappealing characteristics of their own identity into sharper relief, and ultimately helped to encourage the development of critical nationalist sentiments in France on the eve of the French Revolution.

Fashioning Nationality and Identity in the Eighteenth Century: The Comte de Bonneval in the Ottoman Empire

by Julia Landweber

Published in The International History Review, 30 (1) March, 2008: 1-31.

This essay addresses questions of identity, allegiance, and mobility with respect to a French nobleman,... more This essay addresses questions of identity, allegiance, and mobility with respect to a French nobleman, Claude-Alexandre, comte de Bonneval, who converted to Islam in 1730 and lived his last seventeen years in Turkey. His move sparked a lively debate among his French contemporaries as to his “true” national/religious identity: Turkish or French? Muslim or Catholic? Bonneval became a symbolic link between the worlds of East and West, a man who used his geographical, political, and religious mobility to invent an identity that bridged nations and religions. In an attempt to comprehend his decision to convert and move to Turkey, French authors rewrote Bonneval’s story in a popular series of fake memoirs. The circumstances which forced Bonneval to convert to Islam, his self-presentation of his decision, and his re-presentation by others make an excellent case study in the potential consequences mobility could have on identity in the eighteenth century.

“How Can One Be Turkish? French Responses to Two Ottoman Ambassadors”

by Julia Landweber

Published in in Europa und die Türkei im 18. Jahrhundert / Europe and Turkey in the 18th Century, ed. Barbara Schmidt-Haberkamp (Göttingen: V & R University Press, 2011): 403-415.

In 1721 and again in 1741-42, King Louis XV of France received two embassies from the Ottoman Empire. A close reading... more In 1721 and again in 1741-42, King Louis XV of France received two embassies from the Ottoman Empire. A close reading of accounts produced during the course of these embassies reveals that the French, although ostensibly interested in the exotic visitors, ultimately were more concerned about constructing their own national identity. These two Turkish embassies demonstrate the self-reflective nature of French interest in the exotic ‘Other’ at the very time when the future disciplines of ethnography and anthropology were beginning to emerge. Even the most scrupulous efforts at ethnographic observation were eventually compromised by a preference for believing stereotypes about the Turks over what the French actually witnessed about their visitors. Yet when the old stereotypes of the supposed lascivious, despotic, and cruel nature of the Turks failed to fit the ambassadors, the French observers did not relinquish the use of stereotype. Instead they changed paradigms, and reinterpreted the Turkish ambassadors’ behavior according to the supposedly French qualities of “politeness,” “civility,” and “enlightenment.” Under the guise of studying representatives of an exotic non-Western culture, the French sought evidence for the existence of a universal culture grounded in French behavioral values. The sultans may have imagined that they were sending representative Ottoman diplomats to the king of France.  Their French hosts, on the other hand, chose to see a reflection of themselves. Drawing upon newspaper descriptions, journal entries, correspondence, and art which circulated in France during the 1721 and 1741-42 embassies, this paper applies a cultural perspective to diplomatic relations between France and the Ottoman Empire in the eighteenth century.

H-France Review Vol9 No124 Landweber on Ina McCabe "Orientalism in Early Modern France"

by Julia Landweber